“I didn’t see him touch any of them — he wasn’t even turned toward them,” an eyewitness said in a detailed account of the fatal shooting. “I don’t know why they shot him”
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A makeshift memorial in the area where Alex Pretti was shot dead in Minneapolis.Credit :Octavio JONES / AFP via Getty
A Minneapolis woman who witnessed the shooting de@th of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol over the weekend detailed the harrowing incident from her point of view, adding that she now feels unsafe and was told that agents are “looking” for her.
The woman is one of six witnesses who have submitted affidavits about what they saw in the moments before and after Pretti — a 37-year-old ICU nurse — was shot point-blank by a federal immigration agent. Listed as defendants in the case are Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other DHS and ICE officials.
In her testimony from Saturday, Jan. 24, the woman — who works as “a children’s entertainer who specializes in face painting” — said she was leaving her home earlier that morning when she heard whistles outside, indicating that immigration agents were in the area.
The woman said she’s been involved in “observing” in her community since federal immigration agents came to town. She said she drove towards Nicollet Ave., where she witnessed a convoy of government vehicles as well as “about 15” observers, some of whom were recording the activity on her phone.
A man, later identified as Pretti, was helping direct traffic and instructed her on where to park before continuing to film the scene on his cell phone.
The witness said that other observers were being forced back by agents and threatened with pepper spray, and Pretti walked over with his camera out to film the encounter and “support them.”
“Then the [federal] agent shoved one of the other observers to the ground. Then he started pepper-spraying all three of them directly in the face and all over. [Pretti] put his hands above his head and the agent sprayed him again and pushed him. Then [Pretti] tried to help up the woman the ICE agent had shoved to the ground. The ICE agents just kept spraying,” she continued, adding that she could feel the burn of the pepper spray in her own eyes.
She said that agents then got Pretti on the ground. “I didn’t see him touch any of them — he wasn’t even turned toward them. It didn’t look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn’t see him with a gun,” she added.
“Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times. I don’t know why they shot him,” the witness said. “He was only helping. I was five feet from him and they just shot him.”
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The witness submitted the video she took of the incident as evidence. She claimed that it doesn’t match the initial reaction from Noem, Stephen Miller and other members of the Trump administration, who were quick to label Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” and claimed he approached officers with an intent to “inflict maximum damage.”
“I have read the statement from DHS about what happened and it is wrong,” the witness said in her statement. “The man did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they took him to the ground.”
The witness said she now feels “afraid” about potentially being targeted in the aftermath of Pretti’s death.
“Only hours have passed since they shot a man right in front me and I don’t feel like I can go home because I heard agents were looking for me,” she claimed in Saturday’s statement. “I don’t know what the agents will do when they find me. I do know that they’re not telling the truth about what happened.”
She said she alternated between “crying and feeling determined” after the traumatic experience, noting that she strongly believes that “injustice” should be documented, which is how she and other observers found themselves in agents’ path over the weekend.
“We show up for the people who need us to bear witness, because it can’t just be one group of people bearing the brunt of their tyranny,” she said. “This is a struggle to protect our freedom and democracy, those things are on the line.”
She added that Pretti “lost his life for those values.”
PEOPLE reached out to DHS for comment about the witness’s claims.
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Another witness who testified about the fatal shooting of Pretti was a 29-year-old licensed pediatrician who said they had to plead with ICE agents to be able to tend to the nurse’s wounds after he was shot.
“None of the ICE agents who were near the victim were performing CPR, and I could tell that the victim was in critical condition,” the physician testified, stating that agents wouldn’t let them through at first and “repeatedly asked” to see a medical license.
“I insisted that the agents let me assess him. Normally, I would not have been so persistent, but as a physician, I felt a professional and moral obligation to help this man, especially since none of the agents were helping him,” the second witness said.
After being patted down for weapons, the witness was finally allowed to approach Pretti.
“I saw that the victim was lying on his side and was surrounded by several ICE agents. I was confused as to why the victim was on his side, because that is not standard practice when a victim has been shot,” the physician explained.
“Checking for a pulse and administering CPR is standard practice,” they continued. “Instead of doing either of those things, the ICE agents appeared to be counting his bullet wounds. I asked the ICE agents if the victim had a pulse, and they said they did not know.”
Shortly after the physician began CPR, medics arrived and pronounced Pretti dead at the scene.
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Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara later confirmed in a press conference that Pretti was a “lawful gun owner” who had a license to carry.
Pretti’s parents also put out a statement, pleading with the public to “get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.”
“We are heartbroken but also very angry…The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting,” Michael and Susan Pretti said in their statement. “Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs.”
“Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact,” they added.
